Walk With The Dead
by TheAvatar432
Summary: WILL EVENTUALLY CROSSOVER WITH TWD! GIVE IT A CHANCE PLEASE! The dead have risen and society is crashing. Thomas Everett never expected to live in a world like this but now he must not only survive but lead. Will this new world make him stronger? Or will it turn him into a monster worse than the walking dead?
1. Days Gone By

A/N: This is a zombie apocalypse story which takes place in the Walking Dead universe and will eventually crossover far down the road.  
A/N: I do not own TWD or any recognizable aspects of this story.  
Summary: The dead have risen and society is crashing. Thomas Everett never expected to live in a world like this but now he must not only survive but lead. Will this new world make him stronger? Or will it turn him into a monster worse than the walking dead?

Ch.1 Days Gone By  
I sat inside the church, sipping on my water and trying to catch my bearings.

 _"This world has gone to shit."_ I thought to myself.

In just a matter of weeks what seemed like a bad flu outbreak has turned into a full on apocalyptic plague. The dead are rising and the government is gone.

I stood up as the door creaked open.

"We were looking for a place to take a break." The old man said. He was followed by a woman around his age, a college aged boy, a woman with a small girl, a teen girl, and a man around my age. All of them were exhausted and scared. Like everyone else in the world is now.

"No problem." I attempted a polite smile. It was hard seeing as I hadn't smiled in weeks.

"I'm Doug." The old man said. "This is my wife Trisha, and our son Nick." The old woman and college aged boy smiled and nodded respectively.

"I'm Maria." The woman with a child waved. "And this is my daughter Emma."

"I'm Tyler." The guy my age nodded.

"And I'm Kylie." The teen girl said timidly.

"Thomas." I waved to the group.

"You with anyone Thomas?" Doug asked.

"No." I replied.

"That sucks." Doug said.

"Yeah." I answered.

"So tell me about yourself?" Trisha asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Not much to know, I'm twenty-four, did a few years in the Marines." I said.

"A Marine?" Doug asked. "You may come in handy." He lightly chuckled.

"You're welcome to join us, we're kind of just riding blind in this thing but its not good to go it alone." Trisha told me.

"Sure, if the whole group is ok with it." I nodded.

"We could use a military man if you ask me." Maria said and everyone else nodded.

"Alright then." I nodded back.

"Do you have a plan?" Nick asked.

"Not really." I said.

"But you're a Marine?" Kylie said confused. "Marines always have a plan don't they?"

"I don't think anyone had a plan for this." I answered. "I've just been heading home to Tennessee to my parents and my little brother. I started in Chicago, my construction company was doing a job when all this went haywire."

"Well south is as good a plan as any to me, only one issue." Doug said.

"That is?" I asked.

"We need to go through the city. We need supplies and Maria's sister is stuck somewhere in there."

"More people are in the city, and that means more walkers." I said.

"Please, help us." Maria pleaded.

"Quick and quiet." I said.

The next day we were traveling down the empty, destitute highway into the city in Doug's truck and a moving van I found.

"Thank you for helping me. All of you." Maria said to myself and Tyler who were with her in the van.

"Family is all we can hope to remain the same nowadays." I answered and she smiled.

We soon reached a point in the highway we couldn't pass.

"Her apartment is only about a mile from here, we could walk it?" Maria asked.

"Seems like we have no other choice." Doug stared down the jackknifed tractor trailer.

"We should keep the rescue team small." I said as I readied my machete and took out a walker advancing towards us from behind the truck. "Maria, Trisha, Kylie, and Doug should stay."

"What? No." Maria said. "Its my sister."

"Tell us how to get to her and we will." I promised her. "But Emma needs you and our shit needs watched."

"Promise you'll bring her back?" She asked.

"If she's alive when we get there I'll do everything I can to make sure she's alive when we get back." I said and she nodded.

We wove in and out of abandoned cars, dropping a few walkers along the way. Once off the highway we turned down a side street.

"Shit!" Tyler exclaimed and we dove behind a dumpster.

"There's at least twenty walkers right there." Nick said.

"Yeah." I looked up and noticed a balcony above the dumpster. It looked low enough to climb on to from atop the dumpster. "Follow me." I said as I climbed on the dumpster and hoisted myself on top of the balcony. They both followed me and once we were up we noticed what had kept the walkers attention off of us. A small group of people laid on the ground with the walkers surrounding them, all of them ripped to shreds making it impossible to tell how many there were.

"Poor fuckers." Nick shook his head and I nodded in reply. We crept across the balcony over the small sea of dead beneath us. Once on the front side of the building we climbed down. We saw the apartments Maria said her sister was in across the street.

"How do we get across without drawing attention?" Nick asked, referring to the roughly dozen walkers scattered on the narrow street.

"Fucking carefully." I answered.

We started across the street, staying as low and moving as fast as possible without drawing attention to ourselves. One walker caught sight of us and Nick put his knife through its eye.

Once we made it across we went up the stairs to find apartment 2D which is where Maria said her sister lived.

Once we found the apartment I knocked.

"Renea?" I asked. "My name is Thomas Everett. I have two other men with me. We were sent by Maria." A few seconds later the door opened and we funneled inside.

"She's ok?" Renea asked. I nodded in reply. "Emma?"

"Both fine." I reassured her. "But we need to get out of the city if any of us want to stay that way."

"Is there anywhere we can get supplies?" Tyler asked. "Food and water at the least."

"I actually manage, well managed, a small store not far from here. Only about a three minute walk. There is food, water, some clothes and blankets, and a small auto section." She told us.

"Are you sure nobody has gotten in?" Nick asked.

"Not unless they can pick 2 locks and shatter 3 inch thick glass." She replied "This is the bad side of Indianapolis."

"Worth a try." I nodded. "Lets go."

We followed Renea down the back alley of her apartment and through a field to the store. It was luckily pretty quiet and we only had 3 walkers along the way.

Once inside the store we began bagging as many supplies as we could carry.

"Jerry!" Rene yelled from a few aisles over and I bolted to her. I looked down on the ground to see an old man lying on the floor, his stomach ripped open and his legs eaten to the bone but he was reaching for us. Grasping at us as if we were the only thing he wanted.

I put my machete through his face and turned to face a crying Renea.

"He was literally the nicest guy I knew." She said. Tears running down her face.

"I'm sorry."

After gathering some more supplies I noticed the sun was setting.

"We need to get back now." I said. No sooner than the words left my lips did a car alarm start blaring outside the store.

"What the fuck?!" Tyler exclaimed. "That's gonna draw every walker for a mile.

"Then we need to fucking hurry." I replied.

We made our way out of the back entrance into a small narrow alley. I peeked around the corner to find dozens of walkers surrounding the car and bumping int others around it causing more alarms to go off. Once i determined it was clear we went back through the field.

After crossing the field we rounded a corner and came face to face with more walkers than any of us had seen yet.

"Fucking run!" I exclaimed and we all bolted in the opposite direction. I pulled out my Glock17 and began dropping any walker who got dangerously close. We all jumped into the back of a bread truck and Tyler slammed the door shut. The truck was immediately surrounded.

"What now?" Renea asked.

"Try and get this thing started?" Nick asked.

"Oh look, our lucky break." Tyler smiled and pointed to the keys in the ignition.

I jumped in the seat and started the truck.

"Hold on." I said as I revved the engine and blasted through the walkers in front of us. I smashed through a small car.

About ten minutes later we pulled up on the opposite side of the traffic jam that blocked us from getting in and made our way back to the group.

"Renea!" Maria and Emma ran up to hug her. "Thank God you're ok."

"What took so long?" Doug asked.

"Ran into a few snags." I smiled. "Place is a fucking nightmare."

"I bet." He smiled. "Lets all get some rest."

A/N: Ch.1 of Walk With The Dead complete! Please review! It will crossover with TWD at one point!


	2. Home

A/N: Walk With The Dead Ch.2

2 days after Indianapolis I was sitting on the bed of an abandoned truck, letting the sun wash over me and pretending that none of this was real.

"What're you thinking about?" Renea asked.

"Nothing." I answered. "Just clearing my head."

"Is it working?"

"Not as well as I'd like."

"We've made past Indianapolis. Probably an hour away from Cincinatti."

"Its taken us two days to get around the city, we're moving at a snails pace."

"What would you expect? every major road is blocked by cars or walkers, were having to take major detours and stop to find fuel more often because of it."

"I know why, just need to figure out how to make this quicker."

"Guys!" Nick yelled. We rushed to him and found him standing next to a man and a woman who looked like they hadn't eaten or slept in days, maybe longer.

"This is Ben and Lena." Nick said.

"You two look like you need food." I said.I pulled 2 cans of ravioli from my bag as Doug handed them some water.

"Thank you." Ben said.

"Are you with anybody? A camp?" Kylie asked.

"No." Lena shook her head. "We were but..." She trailed off.

"We were with a small camp but Lena and me were just taking a walk when we were drawn back by gunfire and screams. By the time we got back it was too late. We couldn't even grab our things."

"Well there has to be something around here that y'all can change in to." Trisha said ad her, Kylie, and Maria began searching nearby vehicles.

A little while later we were all sitting there with a freshly fed and clothed Ben and Lena.

"So where are you guys from?" Tyler asked.

"Dallas, I was a highschool football coach and Lena was a manager at a diner."

"How'd y'all end up in Indiana?" I asked.

"We took a road trip to new york, just before we got there everything went crazy and we turned around but by then it was too late." He answered.

"Got family in Dallas?" Trisha asked.

"Nah, Anna's an only child and her parents passed long ago and I grew up in foster care."

"Sorry to hear that." Trisha smiled sadly.

"It's fine, given what is going on now it seems anything before this is trivial." Lena smiled back.

"We should rest some then hit the road again at first light." I said as I noticed the sun begin to set. "I'll take watch."

"I'll switch out in a few hours." Tyler said and I nodded.

The night was quiet. A few walkers straggled by our camp but I stayed a top the van and they never even noticed. Once Tyler replaced me I settled down in the bed of a truck and stared up at the night sky. The next thing I knew I was being woken up by rain dripping on my face. I opened my eyes to the blinding sun light.

"Morning." Renea said as she handed me a pop tart and some water.

"Thanks." I said.

"Think we should get a move on?"

"Probably best." I nodded.

A few minutes later we were all packed andr eady to go with Ben and Lena now added to the group. We began driving and luckily found empty road for a few hours before we needed fuel. We stopped and siphoned enough fuel to keep both vehicles moving long enough to get us a fair ways past Cincinatti into Kentucky. We made good time and decided to stop for the night near Lexington, Kentucky.

We all huddled into a gas station just outisde the city limits. I took out the walker behind the counter and drug his body outside while everyone else checke the bathrooms and storage room or began setting out their sleeping bags.

Once everything was clear we all sat on the floor and ate in silence. Kylie found the key to the door and we pulled down the metal gate.

"Maybe we can all get some sleep then." Doug said and we all nodded.

"At first light Tyler, Ben, and I will check the pumps and nearby cars for fuel. Everyone else search for anything we can store fuel in. Empty bottles, buckets with lids, any large enough container." Everyone agreed and after that it fell silent for the night.

The next morning Tyler, Ben and myself were siphoning gas out of some cars when we heard Nick.

"Fuck yeah!"

"Be fucking quiet!" I whisper yelled when I got to him.

"Sorry but forget the truck with the keys, we really just caught our lucky break." He pointed to a small fuel truck in the garage behind the gas station.

"Please have fuel." I said to myself. I walked up to it and climbed on top. I opened it to reveal half a tank of fuel. "Thank fuck."

"Thats about two hundred gallons." Doug said when I mentioned it was half full.

"That means we won't need to search for fuel for a while." Trisha smiled.

"There is a God." Lena said.

After getting the fuel truck started we headed on the road again. Six hours later we pulled up to my parents home outside of Nashville. My mom ran outside and jumped in my arms.

"Thomas!" She cried. "Thank God you made it in time."

"In time?" I asked.

"Your Dad he's...he's bit."

"What?!" I yelled. I ran in the house and found my Dad sitting in his favorite chair. My brother was holding a cold towel to his head.

"Thomas." He hugged me.

"Hey Blake." I hugged him back.

"Thomas?" My Dad said weakly.

"I'm here Dad." I knelt next to him and touched his hand.

"I'm a little under the weather." He joked and I lightly chuckled through tears.

"I can see."

"It happened yesterday." Mom said as they all walked inside.

"Its my fault." Blake said sadly. "A groaner got me and as Dad was saving me he got bit."

"It's not your fault Blake." Mom consoled him.

"Blake, none of this is your fault." Dad said as sternly as he could.

"I'll pack you guys some snacks." Mom told me. "There is a survivors center down in Atlanta."

"You're coming too." I told her.

"No." Was her reply.

"Mom!" I pleaded.

"Thomas Jacob Everett, twenty-seven years ago when your Dad and I got married we made one vow. That we would die under the same roof."

"Mom." I pleaded one more time.

"I love you boys, but I won't last three days out there." She rubbed my face. "And in this world our promises are all we have left."

"I've tried talking her out of it Thomas." Blake said. "It's no use."

"He's right, you guys get some sleep so you can head out in the morning before the center gets too full."

"Mom we can stay, we don't need a survivors shelter."

"Listen to your mother Thomas."

"But Dad, this is pointless. We should all stick together." I told him.

"So you and your brother can die too?" He looked at me, removing the towel for the first time. "I'm done for, your mom is a grown ass woman, and no matter how old you get or how tough the Marines made you you're my son. Both of you are and I'll be damned if I let you piss away a chance at survival. You leave first thing in the morning."

The next morning we were all freshly showered and most of us had caught a fair amount of sleep, except for me that is. I stayed up with my Dad until he passed and then I made sure he wouldn't come back. After burying him with my Mom and Blake I barely had time to shower. I hugged my Mom for the last time I ever would and she kissed my forehead.

"Keep your brother safe, and yourself. Beat this Thomas." She told me. "And you listen to him without question." She hugged and kissed Blake.

I climbed into my Dad's old truck with Blake and we all drove off. I shed a tear as I looked back and saw my childhood home, and my mother for the last time.

A/N: Ch.2! Let me know what you like and what I could do better


	3. Atlanta

A/N: Ch.3 of Walk With The Dead. If you're wondering what the characters look like here is a list of the actors I imagine each character as. Thomas: Dylan O'brien, Tyler: Kyle Gallner, Maria: Victoria Justice, Renea: Nina Dobrev, Nick: Liam Aiken, Ben: Dave Franco, Lena: Anna Kendrick, Doug: Kurtwood Smith, Trisha: Mary Steenburgen. Still working on who I'm gonna use for Blake. Any suggestions are great. If you don't recognize any names google image them.

WEEKS LATER  
We had been on the road for weeks, staying out of any metropolitan areas. I surveyed Atlanta from the ridge of a rock quarry just outside the city limits.

"If there is a refugee camp in there it's well hidden." I said as I handed the binoculars to Doug.

"Think it's worth it?" Nick asked.

"I say we hang out up here for a day, make a plan." I answered. I stared at a billow of smoke pouring from the city center. "There seems to have been a seriously large explosion recently. Walkers should've been drawn to it, clearing the edges some."

We set up camp and huddled around a small fire, trying to keep it warm and dim.

"So whats the plan?" Kylie asked.

"We make our way in slowly, if the herds get too thick we turn around." I said.

"What if we enter on the wrong side?" Lena asked.

"The Military is guided to set up rescue centers in the middle of cities. Makes it easier to find." I answered.

"How do you know?" Ben asked.

"Five years in the Marines." I replied. "Basic emergency relief."

"What'd everyone else do before this?" Lena asked the group.

"Retired as can be." Doug said and Trisha smiled. "Before that I was a mailman and Trisha tought science at a middle school."

"Worked at Wal-Mart." Tyler chuckled. "Consumables, which was almost everything in the store."

"Managed a small store." Renea answered.

"Secretary for a dentist." Maria smiled.

"College." Nick said.

"Simpler times." I chuckled lightly.

The next morning we made our way into the city. Not far in we had to abandon the cars and go on foot. It was a scene of heartbreaking destruction. Buldings left abandoned, bodies in the street, cars left, memories littered the ground and spilled out of forgotten suitcases.

"All these people never had a chance." Kylie frowned, looking down at a man with a piece of shattered glass buried in his eye.

"Everyone had a chance." I said. "Some people just didn't grab it fast enough."

We wandered through the streets, taking out a few walkers here and there.

"It seems so empty, so forgotten, like hundreds have years have passed already." Trisha said solemnly.

"Yeah, hard to imagine that just two or three months ago this was a bustling city. That guy was probably on his way to Starbucks." Ben pointed to a body hanging out of a jewelry store window.

"Or McDonald's." Nick added.

We rounded walked straight through an intersection and came to a dead stop. On our left was the largest sea of walkers you could imagine. Hundreds of them began slowly turning and noticing us one by one.

"Go!" I yelled and we all took off running.

"In there!" Blake pointed to an open door. We all ran inside and slammed the door shut.

"Cookie Bear!" Emma screeched.

"Shit!" Maria exclaimed. "She lost Cookie Bear."

"Whats that?" Lena asked.

"A teddy bear her dad gave her before he died." She answered.

"Is it light brown with dark spots?" I asked.

"Yeah, looks like a chocolate chip cookie." She nodded.

"Fuck." I sighed. I saw it laying in the street being trampled by the walkers following us. "Close the door." I said as I opened it and bolted outside. I shot a walker between the eyes and kicked another to the ground. I shot two more before I got to the bear. I grabbed it off the ground and turned around just in time to have a walker grab my leg and make me fall. I shot it in the face and scrambled to get up, walkers now surrounded me on all sides except for one. I jumped over the hood of a cop car and ran down an alley. I dropped a walker and hopped over a fence onto a basketball court. Walkers began piling against the fence as I took off across the court.

"Don't fucking move!" A voice yelled from behind me. I stopped running and turned around to find a man and a woman. The man was pointing a gun at me. "Give me your bag."

"Seriously?" I asked as I heard the fence from the basketball court crash over. "In about one minute we're going to be overrun by walkers. You can either shoot me and take my bag or you can run."

"Hand it over." He cocked the gun.

"Why not get everything you need at the survivor's center?" I questioned.

"Survivor's center?" He chuckled. "You must be new to town. There is no center. Was one at the CDC but it went down a few weeks ago. Even if it as still ther the damn CDC blew up yesterday. Now give me the fucking bag."

"Alan?" The woman said shakily and he turned to shoot a walker. As soon as he turned I took off running.

"Hey motherfucker!" He exclaimed and they both began chasing me. I dove in an alley and hid behind a propane tank. I heard their feet scuffle past.

"Fucking Idiots." I breathed. I heard walkers drawing closer and I hopped another fence.

Once I found my way back to the group I handed Maria the bear.

"In hindsight, remind me not to risk my life for a toy again."

"Thank you so much." Maria hugged me. "She may not remember much about him but she knows what this bear means."

"As someone who just lost my Dad, I would do anything to hold on to the last piece I have of him." I smiled.

"So what do we do?" Blake asked.

"Crash here tonight, let the walkers clear, get the hell outta dodge."

"What about the center."

"Isn't one, I ran into some not so friendly characters during my marathon with the dead. They said it fell weeks ago, probably while we were in Indiana still."

"What now then?" Ben asked.

"I'm not sure." I shook my head.

"East?" Doug asked. "Coastline, maybe a small island?"

"As good a plan as any." I nodded.

"Why not south?" Tyler asked. "We're closer to the southern coast."

"East has decent farmland." Doug said. "If we want somewhere long term it makes the most sense to me."

"He's right, the further south we go the swampier the terrain gets." I added.

"Alright. Sounds good to me." Tyler nodded.

I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, Pleasantly surprised that it worked. I splashed water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was disheveled and I had grown a slight beard. I felt as tired as I looked. I had lost track of time and couldn't even remember how long it'd been since it all went down. All I knew was it was starting to get cold so it had been a few months.

The bathroom door opened and Renea slipped inside before locking it behind her.

"I just wanted to thank you for getting her bear back."

"No problem." I said. "I was just trying to hel..." I was cut off by her kissing me. We had a brief make-out session before she pulled away.

"We're lucky to have a leader like you." She smiled. She unlocked the door and slipped back outside.

It took 3 days longer than expected for the walkers to clear up enough but we were finally. On the road. We made it back to our vehicles and Ben climbed on top of the fuel truck.

"We got enough to fill each truck two more times, maybe three." He said after examining the amount of fuel remaining.

"Well, we're on E now." Nick said.

"Fill us up, we'll go until it's dry. Then we'll find another source of food, Or shelter, whichever comes first." I said.

"We should just find somewhere to stay." Tyler piped up.

"We get as far away from here as we can, then we worry about that." I replied.

"Why?" He asked. "Why not just go to a nice, solid building and settle down?"

"Because there are thousands if not millions of walkers in this city and eventually they are going to run out of people to eat and start flooding out in every direction. I intend to have us as far east as possible by then. Unless you want to take the lead of the group." I retorted. I gave him a few seconds to respond and he didn't. "That's what I thought. Fuel up and let's go."

A/N: Decent time jump coming next chapter! Please review people! Seriously, anything you have to say is fine just review.


	4. Where To Go From Here

A/N: Here is Ch.4! Please review! And reviewer Shirley Cash I will take what you said into consideration. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling on the story and get into the thick of the apocalyse

*Character ages are as follows* Thomas:24 Renea:22 Maria:27 Tyler: 23 Doug:62 Trisha: 58 Nick: 19 Blake: 16 Kylie:15 Ben: 26 Lena:26 Emma: 3

ROUGHLY 3 MONTHS LATER.

"Clear!" Nick whisper yelled from the kitchen.

"Good!" Tyler yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Bathroom is clear!" Blake yelled.

 _Rrrrrrrrrrrr Ahhh_ I heard coming from the bedroom door. I could hear a walker trying to get out, drawn by the noise we made in the house. I kicked in the door and it fell to the ground. I drove my machete through its forehead. I stared down at its body. It was once a teenage girl, no older than Kylie.

"Clear!" I called down the hall.

I threw my stuff on the bed and sat down in a chair in front of the vanity.

"Hey babe." Renea came in and kissed me. "Something on your mind?"

"We need food, water, and we need to get off the road." I said. Our journey east was complete, we were just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. But we have yet to find somewhere to call home. A few gas stations, houses, a furniture store, a law firm, and our trucks were all we have had over our heads for the last few months. It was deep winter and the nights were cold so I knew we needed somewhere soon.

"We'll find something." She kissed me again before we heard a door slam open.

"Help!" Trisha yelled. "Thomas!"

I bolted down the hall and found Tyler and Ben lying Nick on the kitchen table. Blood was all over him and a piece of rebar was protruding from his leg.

"What happened?!" I asked.

"We were out back in the shed." Blake explained. "Looking for supplies when a walker jumped him. I pulled it off and killed it but he fell back on this rebar.

"Fuck!" Nick hissed as Maria steadied the bar.

"Should we pull it out?" She looked to me.

"No, we don't know if it hit any arteries." I said. "We don't have the supplies if that's the case."

"There is a vet clinic a few miles back!" Tyler said. "Me, you, and Ben can run there and see what there is."

"Sounds good." Ben said and I nodded. We gathered our weapons and bags and loaded into my truck.

"What should we look for?" Tyler asked.

"Painkillers, antibiotics." Ben answered.

"Coagulants to help stop the bleeding." I added. "He's not gonna be able to move on his own for awhile so as soon as we can move him we need somewhere safe."

About five minutes later we pulled up to the vet clinic and ran inside. I killed a walker that was in the back room before I began searching for what we needed. I filled the bag with everything I could find. Tourniquets, medicine, hydrogen peroxide. I found myself thinking about how it was stupid that we hadn't stocked up on medical supplies as much as we should when I heard a door open behind me.

"Any luck?" I turned around and was face to face with a fat man holding a shotgun.

"Move it fucky." He stepped aside and motioned me back into the lobby.

"What seems to be the problem?" I asked.

"Well this vet clinic is one of our territories, we keep meds here and keep a close eye." Another man with long red hair answered while a third bald man kept Tyler and Ben on the ground, a shotgun pointed at them. "Nobody has dared to come in here yet until you three."

"He'll want to know where the rest of your people are as well." The fat man added.

"We don't have anyone else." I lied.

"We've heard that one before." The redhead smiled. "True or not, the Conductor will find out."

"The Conductor?" I questioned.

"Load 'em up, Robbie." The redhead said to the fat man. "Leo, keep watch while we drop these three off." He told the bald man. He smiled at me and I felt a pain pierce the back of my head before everything went black.

I opened my eyes to a bright fluorescent light. I woke up lying on a dirty public bathroom floor with Ben next to me.

"Where is Tyler?" I asked as I rubbed blood from the back of my head.

"No idea, he was gone when I woke up." Ben answered.

"You tried the door?" I asked.

"More times than I care to admit."

"What're we gonna..." The door opened and a tall man with short brown hair and a teardrop tattoo walked in.

"Conductor wants you after he's done with your boy." He looked at me.

"Who in the actual fuck is the Conductor?" I asked. "And where is my friend?" I got in his face.

"None of your business." He punched me again. 2 more men came in and closed the door. The first was short and stocky and the other thin and frail.

"He wants you, he didn't say unharmed." He smiled and hit me again while one of the other men pinned me against the wall while the third tied up Ben. I pushed him off as the man swung again. I ducked and he punched the wall. I speared him through a stall door. One of the other men pulled me off and I turned around and decked him. The third man punched me in the side of the face and I stumbled into the wall. I kicked him in the gut and he flew back into the second man. The first man pulled out a long hunting knife and slashed it towards my stomach. I caught his hand and broke his wrist. I grabbed the knife and rammed it into his throat. The second man came at me with a crowbar and I sidestepped. I ducked under the third mans swing with his tomahawk and pushed him back into the second man. I ran at both of them and tacked them into a wall. I grabbed the third man's tomahawk and wrestled it from his hand. Once I got it I slashed it across his face. I looked down at the second man who was huddled up next to a urinal.

"Please." He pleaded.

"Where is my friend?" I asked menacingly.

"Get on the tracks, walk left and he's the third door on the left." He answered quickly.

"Thank you." I said before I stomped on his face. I untied Ben and we made our way to where he said Tyler was. We slammed open the door and I smashed the tomahawk against the back of a guys skull.

"Guys!" Tyler exclaimed. "Thank god!"

"Let's get out of here." I said as Ben untied him. I picked up the gun next to the dead man and we left the room. We made our way to the stairs when we started getting shot at. We dove behind pillars and a bullet pierced my arm. "Fuck!" I seethed. I leaned around the pole and fired two shots into the shooters chest. We took off for the stairs and hopped in a car parked outside the door.

It took us hours to find the house again but when we did we rushed inside. I opened the door to find Doug on the couch with Trisha.

"Guys?" I asked and Doug looked at me, his eyes said it all. I walked into the kitchen and saw Nick's body on the table.

"We couldn't stop the bleeding." Maria cried. "Doug made sure he wouldn't come back."

"What happened to you?" Renea asked and I explained everything.

"Who is the Conductor?" Blake asked.

"Not sure, but we need to move before we find out." I answered.

We buried Nick in the backyard and we all gathered our things.

"I think we're gonna take a note from your mom's book." Doug said as he handed me the keys to his truck.

What do you mean?" I asked.

"We're not leaving our son." He said. His face solemn and broken.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "It's been a good few months Thomas but between you and I." He paused. "I didn't stop Nick from coming back. He did, and he bit Trisha before we could react. I'm gonna stay with her, make sure she doesn't come back. And then I'm just gonna ride it out where my family is buried together."

"I'm gonna miss you, Doug." I hugged him and tossed his keys to Blake. I climbed in my truck and we all hit the road again. The hole created by losing Nick and leaving Doug and Trisha was felt by us all as soon as we pulled away.

We drove for a few hours before stopping and taking shelter in a post office. We all settled in and tried to get some sleep. I stared at the ceiling while Renea laid next to me. I could feel Renea shiver in her sleep and I pulled her closer. The cold wasn't bothering me at this time. I felt too numb in every sense of the word.I stared blankly into the darkness as it grew thicker and thicker. Eventually, I began to doze off.

"Wake up faggot." I felt a kick in my ribs. "I opened my eyes to find the fat man from the vet clinic standing over me with his gun.

We were all brought to the front of the post office and put on our knees. A dark-haired man in a hoody and some jeans sat on the counter. Once we were all in place he stood up.

"Which one of you killed four of my men?" He asked. "Was it you?" He pointed at me. "You look like you've killed someone today, hell you're covered in blood."

"You must be..." I started.

"The Conductor." He nodded. "Theatrical I know. I run a group who lives in a train station and I'm called the Conductor but.." He shrugged.

"Why follow us this far?" I stood and a woman pointed her gun at me.

"It's fine Nina." He put his hand up. "You killed four of my fucking men."

"You kidnapped us." I retorted, stepping closer to him.

"You invaded my property." He stepped closer as well.

"Are you so stupid that you believe you own all those meds." I sneered.

"Stupid, no." He smiled. "Serious, yes. I'll show you just how much." He pulled out a gun and shot Maria in the shoulder.

"Maria!" Renea screamed.

"Mommy!" Emma cried.

"Now, you wanna sit back down? Or does someone need to die?" He smiled at me. I punched him in the face and dove on top of him. A man grabbed me from behind and pulled me off. He punched me in the face and I returned the blow knocking him out. Renea ran out of the room with Emma and Maria while Ben and Tyler lunged at the fat man. Lena picked up a metal rod and smashed the woman in the head before she could react. The Conductor grabbed his gun. I dove on top of him and wrestled him to the ground. After knocking the gun away I began beating his face in until I felt knuckles break and then I kept going. The man I hit tried to pull me off but I felt him be pulled away from me. I continued beating The Conductor until a gunshot brought me back to reality. I looked down at him. Blood was gurgling from his mouth and he was barely conscious. I picked up his gun and pressed it against his forehead. His eyes pleading with me, trying to beg for forgiveness but unable to speak. I pressed it harder against his skin and pulled the trigger. We drug all the bodies outside and stacked them up in a pile.

"Is everyone ok?" I pulled my gun out and turned around.

A man was approaching me. One hand on his holster the other in the air.

"I mean no harm, just heard the shots and wanted to make sure it wasn't my people. I'm Clarence, Clarence Parker."

"Thomas Everett." I lowered my gun.

"This group kidnapped us, we got away and they followed us here." Tyler explained.

"I understand." He sighed. "Not everyone has retained their humanity." He offered his hand and I shook it. "How many people you have?"

"Had ten this morning. Less now." I answered.

"That's how it goes." He said solemnly. "Listen, I got three others if you want to join up with us."

"You trust us?" I asked. "Why?"

"Because I need to believe not everyone is a monster." He admitted.

He left a came back with his other 3 people. 2 women named Lisa and Megan, and another man named Shawn. Lisa was a petite redhead from Colorado and Megan a heavy set, humorous blonde woman from Australia. They had been roommates in Miami when it all started. Shawn was a buff man with tattoos who was a mechanic before. And Clarence a skinny black man who was a lawyer. They had just decided to move north, hoping things were easier where it was colder. They had started in a group of seven but now it was just them.

"So where are you all headed?" Clarence asked.

"We've made it about as far as we planned." I answered. Renea was tending to Maria while Lena watched over Emma.

"How is she?" Tyler asked once Renea walked into the room.

"In pain but alive." Renea answered as she sat on my lap.

"So." Megan asked. "What now?"

"I'm not sure about you guys but we're sick of being on the road." I said.

"Us too." Shawn nodded. "We need somewhere to go, somewhere safe and as untouched as possible."

We all agreed with nods or grumbles. Once everyone ate and began relaxing I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Clarence followed me out and began talking.

"Those people look up to you." He said.

"Yeah, I guess." I answered. "Though I don't know why. Maria has been shot, we lost a kid this morning. He was nineteen and his name was Nick. We buried him and his parents didn't leave him. If I'm the right guy to look up to then why weren't they inspired enough to move on?"

"You can't put that on you." He said. "Trust me."

"Got some personal experience?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. five years ago my wife and daughter died in a car crash. It took everything I had, every day, not to swallow a shotgun shell. I can't even imagine how much harder that would be now."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" He shrugged. "You're not the drunk driver that plowed through them."

"How do you keep going?" I asked.

"Hope." He smiled. "It was my daughter's name, and as stupid as it sounds, holding on to it feels like I'm holding on to her."

"Makes sense to me." I smiled back.

"Listen, I didn't want to say anything because it's a long shot. Haven't even told my people yet, but I think I know a place we can stay." He leaned in.

"Where?"

"About an hours drive there is a place. A luxury gated apartment community known as Mountain View. I'm talking strong, tall fences."

"Why haven't you went yet?"

"Not enough people." He said. "Place was a rescue center, didn't work out well. Has more walkers than all of us have ever seen."

"Wouldn't be so sure." I chuckled. "Stay away from Atlanta." I added when he looked at me curiously.

We went back inside and told the group. After making a plan we all agreed upon it was time to rest.

"Sleep up." I told them all. "Tomorrow, we take our home."

Ch.4 done! NEW CHARACTERS ARE AS FOLLOWS. Clarence: Donald Glover Lisa: Ellie Kemper Megan: Rebel Wilson Shawn: Chris Andersen(NBA Player) Review!


	5. Welcome To Mountain View

A/N: Thanks fr the reviews guys! If you have any requests leave them in the reviews or comment on the facebook post you found this on!

The next morning as soon as dawn broke we loaded up into the trucks. Walkers were devouring the bodies of The Conductor and his people and didn't pay us any mind. Clarence rode with me in front of the group.

About an hour later we all pulled up to the gate. A big bright sign read 'Mountain View Luxury Apartments'. Right underneath it was a sign reading 'Army Emergency Relief Camp 432'. The gate was held shut with a padlock and a chain. I looked through the bars of the gate and watched as hundreds of walkers shuffled across the parking lot and the courtyard, moaning and groaning like caffeine addicts who haven't had their coffee yet.

"Let's go over the plan again." I said. "All of you, with the exception of myself, Ben, and Shawn, will hide in the H&R Block across the street. I will break the chain and open the gate as Shawn sets off the alarm in the car. I'll bolt into the building with you guys and they'll lead the walkers thirty miles west, circling back around once it's safe."

Everyone nodded and I continued.

"Once it's clear enough for us we will go inside, resecure the gate and clear a path to the first building, we'll take cover on the second-floor walkway and pick off as many stragglers as is necessary. Don't waste ammo, once its clear enough we'll take them out with our other weapons. Maria is still hurt so she will stay behind with Emma and stay safe. Ben and Shawn will get you when they get back."

Once we were clear on the plan everyone got inside H&R Block. I readied myself at the gate, Shawn readied himself at the car, and Ben got in the driver's seat. Tyler gave me the clear once everyone was accounted for. Shawn pulled the fuse and set off the alarm and I pulled open the gate before sprinting across the street and inside. I looked out the window to see the car pulling away, waves of walkers poured through the gates and followed them. They drove at a snail's pace, just fast enough to not be reached.

After a few minutes, it seemed to be as clear as we could hope for. All of us went outside. And we began making our way through the stragglers.

I shut the gate behind me and relocked it with a new chain and lock. I turned around and joined the group in dispatching walkers. Once we made it up the stairs I posted Blake and Kylie at the top to pick off any walkers coming up. A walker lunged out of an open door at me. I jumped back and kicked it over the rails. I picked up my rifle and gave the nod to the group. We began firing and picked off about 20 more walkers before I gave the sign to cease fire. With only about 8 left I went down with Tyler and Clarence, and Lena while Renea, Blake, and Kylie cleared out an apartment.

We began taking out the remaining walkers as quickly and as quietly as can be. I dropped a particularly fat walker and when he hit the ground I noticed a woman behind him.

"Who're you?" I asked.

"My name is Brittany Davis, I was a nurse from the local hospital helping at this camp when we got overran." She said timidly.

"Are you alone?" I questioned and she shook her head.

"I... I'm with my girlfriend Kate and... and a man named Marcus. We're unarmed, hungry, we just need help."

"What apartment?" I asked.

"six seventeen." She asnwered.

"Get back inside. I'll come get you once we've cleared out a few apartments."

"Th... thank you." She turned around.

"Here." I stopped her. I handed her my backpack. "In case that takes awhile, there is some food and water in there. Use it sparingly."

"Really, thank you." She replied before heading back to her apartment.

Once I met back up with Clarence and Tyler I told them about Brittany and her other people.

"We should clear out a few of these apartments for now." I said. "Give everyone at least a little space. We'll work on clearing more over the next few days."

By nightfall 3 apartments were clear, Shawn and Ben were back with Maria and Emma, and Brittany, Kate, and Marcus had joined us.

Brittany, like she said, was a nurse, Kate was a barista, and Marcus delivered pizzas.

"Do you mind checking out my sister?" Renea asked upon learning Brittany was a nurse.

"Sure." She nodded and followed her to the back bedroom.

"So what's the plan now?" Marcus asked.

"Hole up here." I answered. "Make sure it's safe and secure, build a community, survive."

"Sounds like a plan." Kate smiled from Brittany's lap. "We've raided some apartments, kept a log so we don't waste time in the same place twice. Those ones were already clear. There is still at least three buildings and about forty apartments we haven't touched."

"We'll get started on those first thing in the morning." I nodded.

"A few people can make some signs. We have the space here it can be a community, a safe haven." Lena said.

"We can't trust too many people, and we can't house more people than we have the supplies too." I replied.

"They would bring their own supplies, some at least, and more people means we can scout and scavenge more area." She defended her reason.

"This isn't a world to be so trusting in." I said.

"We trusted each other." Clarence spoke up. "It's only been a day but so far so good."

"There are exceptions, rarely. Brittany, Kate, and Marcus were already here so it was only fair. But taking people in is different here than on the road anyway. Out there we are moving, not making a home. Now that we're stable the more people we have, the larger we become, it makes us more noticeable to people who may not be so nice like our friends from last night."

"But Thomas." Renea. "We can't turn our backs on those in need just because we'll get a few bad apples here and there. We need to take people in because leaving someone in need out in that makes us just as bad what's out there. Alive or dead."

I sighed and replied.

"I want to help people, I do. But we have to play this smart. We can't get caught up in being good people anymore. This isn't a world for good people." They looked at me pleadingly and I gave in. "We'll give people a chance but you all need to be ready if it goes south, no matter what. We found the golden ticket, this place is the factory. I will do anything and everything it takes to keep it, and all of you safe. No matter what.

A/N: Not the longest or the best but mainly a filler to establish the base of Mountain View. Please review.


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